1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a vehicle, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling a parking process of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Automotive vehicles may include various systems for aiding or assisting an operator of the vehicle. For example, assist systems have been developed and introduced by various automotive manufacturers to assist drivers in parking operations or other vehicle maneuvers. Such systems include APA (Active Park Assist), POA (Pull Out Assist), parking perpendicular to the direction of travel PPA (Perpendicular Park Assist) and parallel to the direction of travel SAPP (Semi Automated Parallel Parking).
Such systems often include ultrasonic sensors, an electric power steering system and a calculation unit. Based on the sensor signals, a parking curve is calculated and the vehicle is controlled independently in or out of a parking space. The gas and brake pedals remain under the influence or control of the driver. In addition, emergency braking systems are used to avoid hitting an obstacle.
Even though they are working correctly these systems sometimes do not behave like a driver expects. For example, the parking function is canceled when the driver accelerates the vehicle to a speed greater than 10 km/h. In a fully automatic system a driver may expect comfortable brake and throttle controls during an actual parking maneuver. If before ending a parking maneuver the vehicle approaches a parked vehicle at an excessive speed an ultrasonic parking aid may issue a warning that there is a risk of collision with the parked vehicle due to the excessive speed resulting in an emergency situation. In emergency situations occurring during parking maneuvers an automatic braking force brings the vehicle to hold and cancels the parking process. In such instances the brake activation is very sharp and is usually not expected by the driver.